Improvement in seeding-machines



H. THOMASON.

v Seed Planter. I No. 59,681. Patented Nov. 13,1866.

Witnesses: lnventon PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY THOMASON, OF LA FAYETTE, INDIANA.

IMPROVEMENT lN SEEDlNG-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 59,681, dated November13, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY 'THoMAsoN, of LajFayette, in the county ofTippecanoe and State of Indiana, have invented a new and ImprovedSeeding-lllachine; and I do hereby declare that the following is a.full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable othersskilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure l is a plan or top view of my inven' tion; Fig. 2, a sidesectional view of the same, taken in the line so :12, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention relates to a new and improved seedingmachine of thatclass which are pro vided with adjustable or expanding bars, to whichthe seed-boxes are attached, for the purpose of planting the seed indrills at a greater or less distance apart, as may be de' sired.

A represents the beam of the machine the front part of which issupported by a drivingwheel, B, having a bevel-wheel, O, on its axle,into which wheel a bevel-pinion, D, gears, the latter being at the frontend of a shaft, E, the front bearing, a, of which is attached to thelower end of a pendant, F. This pendant F has some degree of elasticity,and it is attached at its upper end to a bar, G, which is supported byuprights b at the front and rear ends of the beam A.

H H are handles, the lower ends of which are attached to the rear ofbeamA, their up per parts being braced by bars I I from the rear of thebar G.

J is a spring, attached to one side of the beam A, and bearing againstthe bearing a on pendant F, said spring having a tendency to keep thepinion D in gear with the wheel 6.

K is a lever, which is attached to the rear uprights, b, by a bolt, 0,passing through an oblong slot, (1, in the lever, there being a lateralnotch, e, at each end of said slot, to receive the bolt 0 and hold thelever K in a downward and upward position, the length of such adjustmentor movement of the lever being limited or determined by the slot at. Thelower end of the lever K is shod with a taper iron rod, L, which extendsunderneath a rod, f, the latter projecting laterally from the rod L.(See Fig. 1.) By shoving down the lever K the bearing a will be forcedoutward and the pinion D thrown out of gear with the wheel 0, theelasticity of the pendant F admitting of this result, and the spring Jthrowing the pinion in gear with the wheel as soon as the lever K isdrawn upward.

The shaft E is connected at its rear end with a shaft, L, the bearing ofwhich is in the rear upright, 11, the joint g, which connects the shaftsE L, being a universal one, to admit of the forcing out of the pinion Dfrom the wheel 0. On the rear end of the shaft L there is a pinion, h,which gears into a bevel'wheel, m, on the lower end of a sleeve, it,placed loosely on a vertical fixed shaft, M, on the beam A, the sleeve12 having two bevelwheels, 0 0, on its upper end, into the lower one, 0,of which two pinions, p 1), gear, which are on the front end of shafts NN. A pinion, q, gears into the upper wheel, 0, said pinion being on thefrontend of a shaft, 0, which passes through a seed-box, P, over therear part of the beam A.

The shafts N N have their hearings on bars Q, Q, the rear parts of whichform the bottoms of seed-boxes R R; and the bars Q, Q rest on cleats T,which are attached to the upper surfaces of beams S S, which have plates8 8 pro jecting from the front ends, said plates being fitted loosely onthe fixed shaft M, to admit of the seed-boxes R B being adjusted nearerto or farther from each other, the boxes R and beams S S being braced bybars T T, the front ends of which are secured by a pivot-bolt, t, to therear end of the bar G.

The seed'distributing devices are attached to or placed on the shafts ON N, and the seed is discharged through openings in the sides of theboxes into cups a, which conduct the seed into tubes.

U is a lever, the fulcrum-pin of which passes through a cross-piece, o,attached to the handles H H. This lever U is connected to the beams S Sby bars V V, one of the latter bein g attached to the lever above itsfulcrum-pin, and the other attached below it, as shown in Fig. 2.

The seed boxes R It are moved or adjusted nearer to or farther from eachother by actuating the lever U and this lever may be retained at anydesired point within the scope of its adjustment by having its upper endfitted in any of a series of notches in a bar, 1*,attached to thehandles H H. 3

W represents seed conveying tubes, attached, two to each beam S and oneto the rear part of beam A. These tubes are secured in position by meansof pins 20, which pass through or into the upper parts of the tubes andby clamps 10*, composed of rods, which pass longitudinally throughblocks 60*, secured to the under sides of the beams, and have hooks b attheir rear ends to fit around rods 0, which bear against the rear of thetubes, the front ends of the rods having screw-nuts (1 upon them, bywhich the tubes may be drawn firmly in recesses in the rear of theblocks or and a series of holes may be made in the upper parts of thetubes for the pins to to pass through and admit of the tubes W beingadjusted higher or lower, as desired.

The seed-distributing device may be composed of cylinders 61*, providedwith notches in their peripheries, or other suitable device may be usedfor the purpose.

The rear of the tubes W have wooden backs f inserted in them, and thelower ends of said tubes are formed to serve as teeth or furrow-openers.

The seed-box P is bolted to bar I and crosspiece 4), so that it will beindependent of beam A and the machine, so that thereby allowed to beshortened, to admit of being turned out of the rows of corn or similarcrops without breaking down said crops and destroying the same.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The lever K, provided with a taper bar, L, at its lower end, inconnection with the pendent elastic bar F, having the bearing roof theshaft E at its lower end, the arm or rod f, projecting from the innerside of the bearing a, and the spring J, all arranged substantially asshown, to admit of the bevel-pinion D being thrown in and out of gearwith the wheel G.

2. The seed-box 1?, attached to bar I and cross-piece n and notched bar1*, so as to be independent of beam A, for the manner specified.

3. The two bars T T, in connection with the beams S S and seed-boxes R Rand bar G.

4. The seed-cups u, in connection with seedboxes R It 1?, arranged inthe manner described.

5. The attaching of the seed-conveying tubes W to the beams S S by meansof the pins w and clamps w* passing through blocks 00*, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

HENRY THOMASON.

Witnesses:

OLIVER Y. STOCK, JARVIS GAsE.

